A doctor from southwest Arkansas has been arrested on charges of overprescribing opiates and other drugs.
Federal prosecutors announced Tuesday the arrest of Dr. Lonnie Joseph Parker and unsealed a grand jury indictment charging the Texarkana, Arkansas, physician with nine counts of prescribing without a legitimate medical purpose. Jordan is to appear in court Wednesday.
The indictment says Parker prescribed approximately 1.2 million dosage units of opiates, including oxycodone and hydrocodone, to about 1,500 patients over a two-year period. He also prescribed approximately 16 gallons of promethazine and codeine cough syrup to about 30 patients during the same period.
Parker was convicted in 2000 of possessing child pornography and served more than four years in prison. In 2015, the state Medical Board reinstated his license to practice medicine.
